Islander 28

[Sunset]

I have a appointment in the morning to look over a 1984 Islander 28. Does anyone here know anything about them? Problems to look for besides the obvious. If it checks out we are going to buy it for our coastal cruising, the loop and wintering in the Keys.
Any help or thoughts are appreciated.

[Frank]

Not familiar at all....but found this
http://www.cruisingworld.com/sailboats/trendsetter-us-west-coast-islander-bahama-28

Seems checking for water around the chain plates would be prudent

[Sunset]

Thanks Frank, I've been reading up on them but had'nt seen that yet.

[Lars]

Keel bolt problems on most islanders ... thus the low prices compared to other similar sized boats .otherwise  I think they are a better than average production boat

[Sunset]

We bought it. I checked the chain plates, no sign that they have ever leaked. The keel bolts looked real good as far as the nuts and the bolts that are visible. Low hours on the yanmar, ran real smooth along with the transmission. Everything looked very good for the age of the boat. Didn't haul it for a bottom check, so got my fingers crossed till next spring to do a bottom job. Full dodger and bimini combo. Standing rigging looks good at the deck level, also nice self tailing winchs.
Time will tell but I think it's a good little boat. we'll see!

[Frank]

Congrats!!!!!!

By all accounts...a great sailing boat with a huge interior for a 28!!

Enjoy!!!

[Sunset]

Been doing a lot of cleaning, brought all the cushions home to clean. Washed the covers gently, they are now stain free and smell good. I have seen where people fold a piece of heavy plastic over the cushions like a taco to get them back in the cover, then pull the plastic out. Hope this works or I will have my hands full trying to get them back together.

[Bubba the Pirate]

Congrats!!

Also I've found that if you can fold the cushion like a taco ... or a gordito. :-)  You can work the cover on. Just keep some pressure on the bent cushion, mind the corners and you should be able to get thd cover back on. I bend cushion, work cover on a small amount, bend again, work on more cover, repeat.

[CapnK]

Re: cushions - I've done the 'taco thing' like Todd and it works pretty good, but I had not heard of the plastic trick. I think that would work a lot better/faster.

Re: I28 - I know that WRT the 36's, post '76 the company is said to have changed the resin formulation and reduced blistering significantly; I'd imagine that holds true across the line.

I have not heard/read of any widespread or (un)common issues WRT the Islander keel bolts in particular, other than that because the boats themselves are XX years old, so are the bolts, like any boat of the era. The ones in my I36 seem to be perfectly fine. Access to them for observation and maintenance is excellent, and there are 10 in my keel of an inch or greater in diameter.
They do have a a backing plate of steel under the nuts which can be affected by water/rust, and that would be more of a concern to me. I gave that some thought, and figured that if you are planning a Southern Capes circumnavigation ;) and wanted them 'bulletproof', at least on my boat there is plenty enough thread on the top of the bolts (an inch or more) that you could fashion custom-fit plates of G10 to go between the ribs and fit the top of the keel in that area. Then remove the 1-2 nuts for just a 'section' at a time, and glass these in as backing plates and you'd never have to worry about them pulling out - but that is a solution in the extreme.

There is a Facebook group for Islander owners, and there seems to be many 28 owners on there. Probably a good resource for any Q's you have.

Also, that's a Bob Perry design, and he used to be - and probably still is - very active on the Sailing Anarchy forums. My impression is that he is very approachable. I would love to have that sort of potential access to Carl Alberg. :D

Last - Congrats! :)

[Sunset]

Thanks.
I cleaned the foam with borx and a fbree oder killing washing detergent additive. Rinsed them and they are drying, they smell like fresh laundry. Don't know how long that will last.
Going down in a few days and change the oil in the 2gm, also the fuel filters. It has the standard on the engine and a razor at the tank. Don't know how bad it will be to bleed. I had a 92 tractor that was a nightmare to get running again after bleeding. But the Beta I sold was so easy.

[Godot]

I have a 2gm, and have bled it a lot while trying to find my fuel problem a couple years ago. Not too bad, really. I was able to do it on the fly in under two minutes. This is supposing that you have reasonable access to the engine, of course.